This invention relates to devices for restraining, securing, lifting, or pulling heavy objects and, more particularly, to restraining vehicles such as automobiles during their transportation. While automobiles are discussed herein, the invention is useful for tieing down, securing, lifting, or pulling other heavy objects, which may or may not be transported.
Various devices have been used for tieing down and securing automobiles for over the road transportation. For example, automobiles are sometimes chained to a long rotatable spindle mounted on the transporting vehicle. The spindle terminates in a gear and pawl assembly. The pawl locks the gear in the desired position once the gear and spindle have been turned sufficiently to tighten the chain. To loosen the chain in a controlled manner, the pawl has to be regularly disengaged from the gear. This is done by first rotating the gear in the tightening direction sufficiently to clear the pawl from the teeth of the gear, and then rotating the gear in the loosening direction until the pawl again engages the gear, at which time the same steps must be repeated to release the chain. This is a slow, cumbersome procedure requiring two hands and some concentration. Inasmuch as these tiedown devices are sometimes located in difficult-to-reach locations on the transporting vehicle, the operation of the tiedown devices can be very awkward.